This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!

"… What… did you call me?"

Minato's question came out slowly. It was almost as if he were the one of higher power, his tone almost giving out a non-verbal warning. His eyes narrowed in confusion and caution, the name sounding rather odd for a grown teenager.

Tyrian raised an eyebrow. "You… don't remember me? Hm…" The corners of the scorpion-Faunus' lips curled down into a curious expression mixed with a frown. "Hmm?" Tyrian then tilted his head to the side, eyes just staring at Minato in concentration. "Hmmm…" The adult hummed to himself, looking down in thought. "Did you forget about us, Mini-Mini?"

Minato's reaction was then to slam his forehead right against the scorpion-Faunus' face

"Augh!" Tyrian reeled back, crying out in a moment of pain. As the scorpion-Faunus clutched his face, Minato grabbed the man by his clothing. Pivoting on his heel, the teenager threw Tyrian over his shoulder and onto the ground. With a swift kick, Minato sent his opponent flying for less than a second towards his companion.

Tyrian however seemed to gain control of his movement as he rolled on the ground. While he was in the middle of his spinning, he pushed himself off of the ground and tried to plant two feet against Raven's chin. Fortunately for the black-haired female, she managed to dodge the heels just in time as she swiftly went to Yang's side.

"Ohh, that was a doozy!" Tyrian exclaimed, rubbing his nose with a bit of irritation on his face. "Come on, Mini-Mini, what was that for?!"

"That name." Minato stared in a deadpanned expression. "Stop it. It's extremely creepy in its own right and is nowhere near close to my real name." His reasons may or may not have had an affect on the scorpion-Faunus because Hazel decided to step into the conversation.

"Tyrian," Hazel said his associate's name, causing the scorpion-Faunus to turn over and look at the rather large man. "You actually think this is him?" He raised an eyebrow, keeping an eye on Minato who seemed to keep up caution in return.

"Come on! Really, take a look!" Tyrian stated, almost excitedly like a child inside a store full of candy. "Blue hair and Semblance that summons one giant, weird, monster that is meant to scare and beat the shit out of people!" He gestured, holding out his hand and arm in a presentation manner towards Minato. "How can it not be Mini-Mini!? Seriously, tell me! Give me a good reason!"

Hazel only kept a rather stoic eye on Tyrian's hyper rant, but seemed to actually consider the words that were spewing out of the Faunus' mouth. "You make rather valid points. Still…" The man grunted in response before looking back to Minato. "You." Hazel nodded his chin to the blue-haired teenager. "Your name is Minato, correct?"

The boy in question seemed to hesitate to answer that question. But then he decided to nod his head. "Yes…" He said slowly, still a bit hesitant to answer the question.

"See?" Tyrian asked. "See?!" His arm movements were a bit intense. "What did I tell you?! That has to be Mini-Mini right there!" He then began to giggle like the madman he seemed to be. "Ohh, it's so good to see you again!"

"…You know who I am?" Minato asked slowly, his head craning towards Yang at the speed of the words escaping his mouth. As soon as his eyes looked at the blonde, his girlfriend gave him a confused shrug. It looked like she was as taken aback as he was.

"Hah? Of course we do!" Tyrian yelled out with a massive grin on his face. He then sighed with a nostalgic look while rubbing the bottom of his nose. "Ah, I still remember the times you used to crawl around trying to catch my stinger. You never did succeed though."

"Yes, we know who you are." Hazel confirmed with a nod of his head, his voice getting straight to the point. But then he stared for about a second after. "You don't know us… You don't remember us to be more specific."

Minato nodded in response, not really sure if he wanted to say anything. But while their conversation was dragging on, he had been inching towards Yang. Just because these people knew him, at least claimed to know him, that still did not get rid of the fact that they attacked Yang. When he got to her side, he still did not have the being that had stopped Tyrian before go away just in case.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a minute." Yang decided to step into the conversation. "So you guys are saying that you know Minato but he doesn't know you." She wanted to try and sum up the entire conversation that had happened. Realization began to take over her face. Looking over towards her boyfriend, she shared a look with him.

Hazel just closed his eyes in response and nodded his head. "It's understandable." The adult simply said in response. "But that explanation is a rather long story. That story shouldn't be explained by me or him however." He pointed towards the scorpion-Faunus.

"And who would be the one to explain then?" Minato asked.

"Why your mom, silly."

That one sentence that escaped Tyrian's lips caused silence to spread throughout their entire surroundings. Just between the two groups, even a pin dropping on a nearby rock could be heard due to the lack of volume around them. For perhaps the second or third time in his life, Minato found himself speechless.

"…His… mom?" Yang asked slowly.

But before she could inquire any further, she felt a hand grab her shoulder. Turning around, she saw that Raven was the one to be touching. "Yang, get away from him… now." Raven ordered, eyeing Minato warily as if he were some kind of animal that would go after them if they make any sudden movements. Slowly, Raven dragged the blonde back while she moved herself between Yang and Minato.

The blue-haired teen however did not really pay attention to what had gone on next to him. He was too busy having that one sentence play over and over again inside of his mind. "Mom…" He whispered to himself while staring at the ground, as if the word were completely foreign to him. Minato then looked up. "… I… have a mom?"

"What?" Tyrian seemed to recoil at the words with surprise. "Of course you have a mom! How else do people come into the world?! Not by storks, that's for sure!" The scorpion-Faunus then rolled his eyes. "Honestly, birds carrying babies all over the world. What kind of fantasy is that? Although, it is an amusing thought to think about what would happen if they do accidentally drop a baby."

Minato… didn't really know what to say. He was… shocked to say the least. That just meant that he still had his real family out there. Well… perhaps real should be a mild term. He had not really met his parents yet. But as far as he knew, he was not exactly getting great first impressions with the two adults in front of him attempting to kidnap Yang.

But that indeed did leave another question however. Why. Why did they just leave him alone? Leave him at an orphanage? What kind of issue was there?

Hazel seemed to see the look in Minato's eyes. "You have many questions." He stated but nodded his head once again. "That's understandable. You were just a toddler when we last saw you."

"But now you're all grown up!" Tyrian seemed to hop on the spot. "Oh, this is such wonderful news!" He then suddenly frowned. "Although… is it really a good idea to take him back?" He raised an eyebrow and looked over to Hazel. "I mean… there is a reason why we had to get him away from there, right?" He then smacked his own face. "Ah, well, worth the risk!" A grin then grew on the man's face. "Just you wait about a few minutes, Mini-Mini! We just need to grab the two girls and then we'll be on our way!"

Hazel rolled his eyes. "You would think like that." He grunted, but then spread his arms out. "But, I guess he should properly know."

Hearing this, Minato immediately slid himself in front of Yang and Raven. Tyrian's grin dropped down in response. "She's not going anywhere." He stated, raising his right hand as the being still lingered around them. "Especially if it's with you."

"…Ah." Tyrian managed to say after a couple of blinks with his eyes. "That makes things a bit more complicated because…" He drawled out, trying to think about what to say. "Well, your mother told us to and… she wouldn't be very happy if we didn't."

Minato frowned. "My mother told you to kidnap girls?" Due to the moment just bouncing all over the place, he didn't exactly put much thought into a single word of that sentence. Instead, he settled for a suspicious gaze. "Why?"

"Well, not girls per say." Tyrian snorted. "If that were the case, we'd be as vulgar as sex traffickers." He then shook his head. "No, no, no. Girl with… special powers. Something… much bigger… much better than a Semblance. For reasons we could explain, but it would be better heard from the goddess herself."

… So, they were pretty much offering to take him back to his… home. Tyrian also mentioned… goddess as well? Was his mother… considered than beautiful then? Or was the man just basically some sort of cult worshipper? Watching the scorpion-Faunus act, he probably assumed the latter a lot more than the former.

Eyeing Yang once again, the blonde even had a face that knew what they were talking about. Those ice powers that the blonde had. But then Minato looked back at the two males. "You said you're going to take me back, correct?" He asked, wanting to clarify. "Where is that exactly?"

"Your home." Hazel answered patiently.

"My home is in Vale." Minato answered.

"And the one before that?" The muscular male simply replied. He then saw Minato still staring and sighed. "Come. We'll take you back when we're done."

It was a few moments of both parties being frozen, but it gave Minato the time to think. After that, Tyrian and Hazel stepped forward but Minato raised his hand. Rather than pose for a gunshot, he instead raised a finger. "I'll come along." He stated, but brought the sentence out slowly to make sure to make it clear there was a follow-up. "But only under the condition that you leave Yang and the other girl alone."

Tyrian blinked. "…Yang?" He asked, eyeing the blonde. "You mean Goldilocks over there?" He raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want that?"

"She's my girlfriend."

"…" Tyrian opened his mouth, but a strangled voice escaped his lips. Closing them, he opened up and tried to speak but nothing came out once again. But for the third time, he successfully spoke. "… Oh dear…" He finally said. "This… kind of complicates things." He then thought. "Could we perhaps-"

"No."

"You didn't even-"

"I said no."

"You don't-"

"No means no."

Minato face grew a frown once again, his features becoming rather rigid as he was adamant at the moment. Despite the man seeming psychotic, there was a childish bit which sadly reminded Minato of Ruby; hence the rather stern denial of the adult's wants. There were even aspects of Tai and Qrow in there as well to boot. Not exactly a nice thought.

"I'll say it again." Minato stepped forward, his eyes half open which almost made him look dangerous. "You can take me back. Take me to wherever you had in mind. Whatever you consider to be my home. But you are to leave Yang and the other girl, Vernal, alone." His tone made no room for argument at all, the black-being behind him seeming to grunt and growl with Minato's words.

Tyrian's arms limply dropped down as he was also hunched over. His lips curled down into through, looking at Minato as if he were a bit crazy. "So… what do you think?" The man looked over towards Hazel.

Folding his arms, the muscular male also was contemplating Minato's words. "…" Hazel exhaled through his nostrils, clearing thinking about this with a lot of concentration. "… We at least can confirm that the Spring Maiden is with the Branwen Tribe, so we can simply continue to track her down." He started at first quietly, only for him and Tyrian to hear. "The Winter Maiden we also know is close to Minato. With Fall in our possession, it would only be a matter of time before Summer is found." With eyes opening, he looked directly at Minato and spoke loud enough for the teenager to hear. "We accept your conditions. Let's get going then."

Minato felt a bit… relieved. The blue-haired boy nodded his head. "Can you wait for a moment or two?" He asked. "I just want to talk to Yang about something."

Seeing Hazel nod his head in return, the male teenager turned around. While the creature with coffins went away, Minato found himself at the receiving end of a glare from Raven. "Do not come any closer to her." The black-haired female shook her head. "I knew there was something off when I first laid eyes on you, but to think you were really the spawn of-"

"Mom!" Yang exclaimed, stepping around the female and put herself between Raven and Minato. "He helped us! And yet you're just throwing some kind of… weird accusation at him! Why?! What had he done for you to act so hostile! I mean…"

"You don't know yet, Yang. But you will when I tell you." Raven stated, grabbing her daughter's shoulder but kept her eyes on Minato. "Right now though, you need to stay away from him. Especially if he's going back with those two psychopaths."

Yang grabbed the wrist and tore it right off of her shoulder. "He's just going back to see his real family who he hasn't seen since he was a toddler! What's wrong with that!?" She argued back. "I mean, yeah, one of them seems unstable and all, but I at least know that Minato will never be like them!"

"You know, as entertaining as your bickering is, I think Mini-Mini has something to say!" Tyrian called out from the side.

"Shut up!" Raven yelled back, turning her head over to the scorpion-Faunus before looking back at Yang. But then she saw the blonde's eyes turn red and were glaring at her defiantly. Going again what her parent wanted…

It then reminded Raven of something. A past she had left behind for this present day. But it seemed as if the past was already catching up to her. With a single sigh, she turned around. "Fine, but make sure you don't do anything you will regret." Raven folded her arms and stepped a couple of meters away before turning around again.

Yang spun around on her heels to face Minato. "So…" Yang tried to start off, her eyes wandering around their surroundings. "… You're going to see your mom…" It felt a bit awkward being the center of attention between three adults. "…Hope that goes better than what happened with me." She attempted to get a laugh out of Minato.

The boy shrugged. "… Maybe." Minato answered. "Though… it is kind of worrying about how they reacted to you and… your ice abilities."

Feeling his hands being squeezed, Minato looked down and saw that such limbs were in Yang's own hand. "Aww, that's so sweet of you." Yang grinned. "But don't worry. You know how tough I can be."

"… I guess." Minato nodded his head, feeling his arms now being swung around due to Yang being the perpetrator.

The blonde noticed his moment of silence. "You feeling a bit nervous?" She saw him nod. "Yeah, I get it." Yang stated. "But hey, I know you'll be able to handle it when the time comes. Hope it goes well for you and stuff."

"Thanks." He nodded his head.

Minato saw Yang smile. Immediately, he dragged her towards him and wrapped his arms around her body. Stunned at the sudden embrace, Yang quickly recovered from her shock. With a shake of her head with an amused look, she hugged him back. "I'll miss you." She said.

"Same here." Minato replied back as they broke off the hug. "I'll try to be back home in Vale in about a week… that is if things go well."

"Well, I guess that means the same goes for me." Yang gently punched Minato's shoulder in a playful manner. "Hope things work out for you."

"… I kind of hope so too." Minato agreed with her. With a small wave, he watched Yang wave back. Walking towards the other two males, he stood a couple of feet away from them. "I'm ready." He nodded his head.

"Well, let's be on our way then!" Tyrian clapped his hands together. "Oh, you are absolutely going to love it!"

Just watching the scorpion-Faunus constantly talk Minato's ear off, Yang continued to watch as the three males walked away into a random direction until they were either too far or the tree obscured her vision. But when she turned around to look at Raven, the adult did not look happy at all.

"We have much to discuss." Raven stated with a frown.

Y13

"And here we are! Home sweet home!"

Minato stayed silent, just being unsure if he wanted to put in the effort to react to what had been revealed to him.

Looking around, he took in the environment he had traveled. Apparently, he had been blindfolded during the trip. Tyrian claimed that he wanted it to be a surprise, but Minato took it more along the lines of a message that they wanted to keep this place a secret.

At first glance, it didn't appear too different than a normal forest from Remnant. But after a moment, he started to notice how the vegetation wasn't exactly the healthiest. While he had seen dead trees plenty of times as seasons passed, these trunks looked… diseased. The horizon above and beyond him was actually rather red as well, the color being completely unnatural compared to the blue he was used to,

Nothing but solid rock created the natural scenery of the place. Among all of the cliffs and wherever the stone element was, purple crystals were sprouting up like plants and were haphazardly littering their surroundings. Minato actually wondered if those were actually gravity Dust crystals.

But what caught his attention were pools of black tar. As he was guided through the field filled with so many of the pitch-dark puddles, he saw a few bubble. Just as he walked past them though, he saw them emerge, almost like his Semblance.

First came bony-white claws. As if it were dragging itself out from suffocating under the thick liquid, it slammed a dark hand onto the dry, stony land. A second paw with claws came out and did the same thing. With a heave, it brought a massive amount of gunk up as the body rose up. It took a few seconds for the sticky liquid to fall off. But as it slid down, it revealed a single Beowulf walking out of the pool like it was nothing, taking its first ever howl.

"It's a rather revolting sight, huh?"

Turning his head over when hearing Hazel's question, Minato realized that he had actually stopped in place in order to watch the event that had just played before his eyes. "…Not really." Minato found himself answering, seeing more Grimm dragging themselves out of the tar and walking in the opposite direction he was going.

Hazel stared as Minato continued to watch the Grimm drag themselves around. "… You are kind of like your mother." He noted, causing the boy to stare at him once again. "Come on, it's not much farther."

As Hazel began to move, Minato did as well and noticed that Tyrian had actually gone on ahead. Looking forward, the teenager blinked and looked up. He wondered how he didn't see the rather large structure that was on a tall cliff overlooking the entire scenery that he was in the middle of. Of course, it got bigger the closer he had approached it.

Walking up a rather steep slope, Minato found himself feeling… a bit comfortable. As if he were back in Vale in his home. His hands brushed along one of the purple crystals and he found that his hands were trailing across the surfaces of the smooth, shiny gems. Cupping his hand, he accidentally broke off a chunk that was skinny compared to the thickness of the main body of the crystal.

The snapping sound echoed around them and the two adults look over to see Minato with his hands behind his back. "Mm." Tyrian shrugged his shoulders and Hazel grunted is a neutral volume. The boy assumed that he was going to be in a bit of trouble for breaking the crystal, so he pocketed the item and didn't tell them.

As Tyrian pushed open a set of door, Minato was greeted to a grand hallway with grey walls. Being gestured to still follow, he slowly trailed behind and was led through the maze of a building he saw a few moments ago.

"You both are back, I see." Hearing a voice ahead, Minato tilted his head to look from behind Hazel's large build. In his sight was a tall middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin. He also had short black and gray hair with a mustache and green eyes. The man wore a gray overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow dress shirt and a black necktie. His pants were the same color as his overcoat. His yellow-buttoned undercoat and finger-less gloves matched his cordovan shoes, under which he wore yellow socks.

The mustached man seemed to have a look of disapproval while shaking his head. "Completely empty-handed I see, if I may add as well." He sighed while shaking his head as if he were ashamed of them. "What a disappointment. I wonder how…" The man trailed off when he noticed the blue-haired boy staring at him. "… Who is that? A maiden? Because she looks like a male."

Tyrian snorted. "Now, now, Watts, that wasn't nice at all!" Tyrian chuckled, sauntering over to the man. The newly dubbed Watts leaned back, away from the scorpion-Faunus with a disturbed look. "Come on! Take a good look. Like, a real close look! Go on! You'll be able to recognize who it is!"

"… If I do take a look, will you back up?" Watts asked. "You are invading my personal space." When Tyrian went away, the other adult began to walk up to Minato. As Hazel moved out of the way, Minato remained as still as a statue, but kept his head craning around as Watts paced about. It took a few seconds followed by many hums from the adult. "… Are you quite sure this is somebody we are acquainted with?"

Hazel hummed. "It seems you need to show him something else" The man stated to Minato.

Watts raised an eyebrow and looked over towards the muscular man. "What are you talking about?" He asked. But when he went to turn his face back to Minato, Watts came face to face with a skull that had a pitch-black body. Despite there being no mouth, he could feel hot air being breathed onto his face. There was even a subtle growl from the sudden monster and Watts fought the urge to swallow.

As the monster began to fade away, Watts found himself staring at Minato once more. The usual bland expression on boy's face began to become familiar soon after. "… Oh, it's you again." Watts sighed. "The brat who never cried at all." He rolled his eyes. "Despite that being rather relieving, it was rather disturbing at the same time whenever you would just stare." He then looked up and back. "I thought that it was bad that he stays here."

Tyrian shrugged. "I'm sure things won't turn out to be too bad. I mean, it's been about 15 years since we last saw…" He trailed off with a frown of thought. "You know, I still wonder how I'm supposed to refer to it."

Watts shook his head in an irritated motion. "Well, she has been waiting for you since your arrival. So instead of having the maiden's, you are thinking that showing him here will appeal to her." He gestured to Minato with his chin.

"Pretty much." Tyrian nodded without an ounce of shame before beckoning. "Come on, Mini-Mini." He tapped a large door which Minato did not notice that they were right next to. "Just behind this door…" He paused for dramatic reasons. "Our goddess… Your mother."

Noticing that he was given a sudden berth of space, Minato slowly walked forward. Everything seemed… smaller all of a sudden. As if he had once thought the inside of the building was once… bigger. Placing his hands on the door, he found himself hesitating a bit. Looking back, he saw Tyrian nodding eagerly, Hazel had his arms folded, and Watts was tapping his foot impatiently.

Shoving the doors open, Minato found himself inside of a grand room with windows lining the walls and a massive table.

At the end of the table though, staring out of the far window, was a female with deathly pallor, covered with deep red and purple veins that ran up her arms and face. The woman wore a very long black robe with red designs resembling eyes. There was a ring resembling an insect on her right index finger. Her hair was white which formed into a bun with six offshoots from which ornaments were suspended.

As she turned around, it was revealed that the sclerae of her eyes were jet black and her irises glowed red. There was even a black diamond-shaped marking on the center of her forehead.

As soon as her red eyes met his, Minato was unsure how she actually reacted. Her face was kept straight but the act of seeming to freeze indicated surprise or shock. Yet that moment passed soon as the woman began to stride forward slowly. It was as if she were gliding lazily along the floor.

As soon as she was a few inches away from him, she slowly raised her hand. Feeling the palm cup and caress his cheek, he felt the cold skin. But rather than shiver… it felt relaxing… relieving. It then began to go through his mind. White hair that reminded him of snow… Her skin being pale… Much paler than he had remembered or expected.

"… You…" She started off slowly, as if thinking about the best words to say. "… Look a bit tired, my son."

"You look a bit evil, mother." Minato immediately replied back.

There we go! What I've been wanting to reveal but only clued in on for the past… 18? chapters! This chapter was an awkward start, but it finished well I guess. Okay… now time to go to some other story.

As for why I made Yang the Winter Maiden rather than Summer since so many people are asking me... I just thought due to the setting of when she got her powers in the first place, it was suitable. Especially since, once again, these 'true' events did happen during winter time. Plus, I thought it would be fun trying to come up with ice fighting scenes instead of the typical fire/flames Yang always has. Yes, the Summer Maiden can possibly have other elements, but I wanted to try something unique that I have not seen (so far through my time on FF).

No flames please.